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Lucky’s Golden Ticket Cupcakes. Sweet, simple, and delicious, every Leprechaun out there will love these cupcakes. Light and fluffy vanilla butter cupcakes generously frosted with the most delicious creamy caramel-like brown sugar and rich vanilla frosting. Then finished off with a sprinkling of sweet, colorful, crushed-up Lucky Charm Marshmallows and edible gold leaf. Sooo much here to love! You can’t beat these cute little golden ticket cupcakes. Fun for both St. Patrick’s Day and Easter.
I almost never share St. Patrick’s Day-themed recipes, but something in me this year wanted to have some fun and celebrate! It’s a combination of things. You see, I really need color in my life right now. Color and fun things to keep me from being completely bored out of my mind during these snowy Colorado days.
I’m at that point in our the long winters, where I really need to keep things exciting. I’ve been planning more travel and making an effort to create recipes that truly make me excited. And when it comes to sweet treats, we’re indulging a bit more than usual this year.
It’s just what we need!
And while these cupcakes are of course fun, I made sure that they’re delicious and easy to make too. If you can make a basic cupcake recipe, you’ve got these covered.
And decorating is EASY, almost effortless.
The idea behind this recipe came from that box of Lucky Charms we all grew up eating. I wanted to use the marshmallows to make these sweet vanilla cupcakes CUTE, and of course fun, for St. Patrick’s Day next week.
Growing up, I loved a bowl of Lucky Charms. But the thing is, I would always eat around the marshmallows. Is that weird or what. I’ve just never been someone who enjoyed overly sugary things, even as a kid.
But of course, I always found them so cute and fun, and I loved the sweet oat cereal.
Details
Start with the cupcake. This is the perfect light and fluffy vanilla cupcake. You need all the usuals: sweet butter, sugar, flour baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Then of course eggs. Oh, and this recipe uses milk too.
Beat the butter with the sugar, then add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. This recipe is unique in that we’re not beating the butter with the sugar, then adding wet ingredients and then dry. We’re mixing the butter and flour first, then adding in the wet ingredients.
It’s this process that gives you such a light cupcake.
Once the flour is mixed in, mix the milk with the vanilla, then add this to the flour. Next add in the eggs, making sure to beat them in one at a time. Finish with either Greek yogurt or sour cream, but I use yogurt.
While the cupcakes bake, you can make the frosting.
This is the perfect frosting for these cupcakes. It’s sweet, but not too sweet, and the rich, light flavors of caramel pair so nicely with the vanilla cupcake.
The brown sugar melts down adding hints of warm molasses and really deepens the flavor to create a frosting that’s perfectly rich and caramel-like. And when you add a touch of vanilla and sea salt? Well, it’s hard to say no to a second cupcake.
Frost each cupcake and then use your fingers to lightly crush your favorite Lucky Charms marshmallows over top. If you want to get fancy, I love to add a few pieces of edible gold leaf too. I ordered mine on Amazon, it’s always so fun when I get to use them!
These cupcakes are delicious. Each bite is filled with sweet classic vanilla cupcake and light, fluffy, vanilla “caramel” frosting. Lucky is going to LOVE these. The perfect cupcakes to bake for both St. Patrick’s Day, and upcoming Easter! They’re pretty hard not to love.
Looking for other spring dessert recipes? Here are some favorites:
Double Strawberry Sugar Cookies
Giant Frosted Strawberry Pop-Tart
Strawberry Chamomile Naked Cake
Lemon Strawberry Dutch Baby with Ricotta Cream
Lastly, if you make these Lucky’s Golden Ticket Cupcakes, be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
Lucky’s Golden Ticket Cupcakes
Servings: 24
Calories Per Serving: 197 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
- 1. Preheat oven to 350° F. Line 24 cupcake molds with paper liners.2. In a large mixing bowl, beat together the butter, sugar, flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt until mixed into small dry crumbs. 3. Combine the milk and vanilla, then pour in the flour, beating until smooth. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, until combined. Add the yogurt, beating until just combined.4. Divide the batter evenly among the prepared pans. Transfer to the oven and bake 22-25 minutes, until the tops are just set, and no longer wiggly in the center. Remove and let cool.5. To make the frosting. Melt together 1 stick butter, brown sugar, and cream in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil and cook 2 minutes, or until the sugar has dissolved. Add a pinch of salt. Remove from the heat and add to the bowl of a stand mixer. Place the bowl in the freezer (or fridge for longer) for 15 minutes or until cool to touch.6. Grab the cooled butter mixture from the freezer and add the remaining 1 stick butter, vanilla, and powdered sugar to the bowl. Beat together until well combined, adding more sugar as needed.7. Frost each cupcake. Decorate as desired with Lucky Charms. I lightly crush the marshmallows with my fingers, then sprinkle over each cupcake. You could use St.Patrick’s Day sprinkles as well. Or do them up for Easter!
